Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Teaser #7: "Make Pretty."

Another story where addiction is one of the keys,
though a different kind of addiction: a narcissistic, media driven, Hollywood
take on addiction.

The idea for this story originated while reading some work by Charlis Birkin, who specialized
in a style of horror known as contes cruels. I can’t find a specific
definition of contes cruels, but the stories tend to veer toward some depth of
human cruelty at their heart; their sick and twisted heart.

The sample here is after ageing actress, Christina Conero, has followed
instructions, snorting a powder that promises to be her personal fountain of
youth. After a lovemaking session with actor and beleaguered husband, Philip
Raines, this snippet sets us up for the first of two horrific jabs; the second
one is more the knockout punch, the cruel revelation at the heart of this
insidious piece.

[the lukewarm towel is covering her face]

***

“What is the purpose of this?” he asked, tugging at the lukewarm towel.

“You’ll see in the morning. Good night now, I need
my beauty sleep.”

He finished his cigarette in silence only broken by the periodic shuffling of
sheets as she reached up and touched the towel, as if making sure it was in
place.

“You know I love you,” he said, before turning on his side and falling asleep.

He was dreaming about when Christina and he had first gotten together, and that
time in Hawaii, on the warm sand with the moon as a shy spotlight. He said he
would love her forever.

And she screamed…but that was not in the dream.

He flung his arm to Christina’s side of
the bed; it was empty.

“Christina, what’s wrong?Where are you?”

She
screamed again.

He took four urgent strides to the
bathroom and shoved the door open.

“Christi—”

***

STOP! No, don't want to give it all away! Oh, I want to tell you more, but you’ll just have to
wait until The Dark is Light Enough is released, 11-11-11.

If you are following this blog, you’ve probably noticed the collection has a
wide variety of subject matter and styles. Though I see a more weird fiction
slant to my current stories—well, except for the novels, man, I have no idea
where they come from or what they are, but I like em!—over the years I’ve
approached storytelling from many different angles. Probably influenced by a
lot of the writers who got their careers in gear in the 80s, like Clive Barker,
Joe R. Lansdale, David J. Schow and the likes, as well as Harlan Ellison, Ray
Bradbury, and J.G. Ballard before them. An odd mix, toss in the Masters of the
Weird, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and many more, the stories are the
result of this melting pot of influence as channeled through my perceptions, my
voice. And I've not even mentioned how music plays a Huge role in much of my
writing; art as well.

I believe life itself and simply being curious and
open to the possibilities and letting my imagination run with them is probably
the biggest influence of all, hehe...

Next up, we head back to the forest, where nature
has its own devious designs…

This Bizarre and Brilliant artwork by Eric Lacombe perfectly captures the vibe of "Make Pretty."
Enjoy!